Chapter VII: Part 7

Aaron Burr made his first appearance in the western country, prior to the completion of his arrangements for his mysterious expedition, in the spring of 1805, and, on two occasions, during the summer, spent several days in the family of General Jackson. The people of Tennessee, like all the residents in the valley of the Mississippi, were exceedingly hostile to the Spaniards; and so long as Burr was supposed to be concerned in making arrangements for the invasion of Mexico, in the event of a war with Spain, General Jackson, with most of the influential citizens of that section, warmly seconded his projects. In 1806, Burr returned to the west and began his preparations. In the fall, the suspicions of General Jackson were awakened, and the friendly intercourse between them entirely ceased. Whatever may have been the designs of Burr, he dared not reveal them to General Jackson, though he ever entertained a high opinion of him, and always mentioned him in terms of respect. His patriotism was much too earnest and sincere to be tempted; and, notwithstanding his previous intimacy with Burr, the special agent dispatched by the President to secure the arrest of the latter, was directed to call on him, with instructions to order out a military force, if necessary. General Jackson promptly ordered out twelve companies, but Burr had already left the mouth of the Cumberland, and was on his way down the Mississippi; and on ascertaining this fact, he dismissed his troops, and reported his proceedings to the government.

Not long after General Jackson retired to private life, he entered into partnership with a merchant in Nashville. For a time their business appeared to be prosperous; Jackson took no active part in its management, but trusted everything to his associate. Some slight circumstances at length aroused his fears, and, upon examination, he found that the firm was not only insolvent, but that their liabilities exceeded their assets, by many thousand dollars. But one course--that dictated by honor and right--could be pursued. He instantly closed the business, sold his fine plantation where he lived, paid off the debts of the firm, and removed to a log cabin on another plantation, to begin the world anew. By the exercise of strict economy and prudence, in a few years he once more gathered around him the fruits of prosperous industry.

In 1811, General Jackson had occasion to visit Natchez, to bring up a number of negroes, who had become his property as the surety of a friend, or belonged to a nephew; and, on reaching the station of the Choctaw agency, along which the road passed, he found seven or eight families of emigrants, and two members of the Mississippi Legislative Council, whom the agent had detained, upon the pretence that it was necessary to have passports from the governor of Mississippi Territory. Justly indignant at this outrage, Jackson demanded what right he had to stop American citizens who were travelling on a public road. The agent replied, in a sharp tone, by inquiring whether he had a pass? “Yes, sir,” said the general, warmly; “I always carry mine with me:--I am a free-born American citizen; and that, under the constitution and laws, is my passport to go wherever my business calls me!” He then told the emigrants to gear up their wagons, and if any one attempted to obstruct them, to shoot him down. He himself set the example, and proceeded on his journey, utterly regardless of the threats of the agent.

Upon his return from Natchez, he was informed that the agent had collected fifty white men, and one hundred Indians, and intended to stop him unless he produced a passport. On approaching the station, he armed his blacks with clubs and axes, and directed them to regard no order unless it emanated from him. The agent was at first inclined to stop him, but, being overawed by his firm and determined manner, made no attempt to oppose him. He afterwards reported the conduct of the officer to the President, and he was removed from the agency.

[Sidenote: WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN.]

The period now arrived which Jackson had long anticipated.--War was declared against the enemy of his country and his race, on the eighteenth of June, 1812. It is easy to conceive the emotions which the intelligence must have awakened in his bosom. Recollections of the past came rushing and thronging into his mind. The cycles of Time rolled backward. Again he stood upon the threshold of his desolate home,--on “the forest-clad banks of the Catawba,”--orphaned by the cruelty of British officers and agents. Let him not be reproached, if motives of revenge quickened and sharpened his patriotism. His desire for vengeance was almost holy in its character--it was based on fraternal affection, on filial love!

When the tocsin of war was sounded, the glad, prolonged echoes, came up from every valley and hamlet; but in no quarter of the country was the response more enthusiastic, than in the valley of the Mississippi. General Jackson immediately issued a stirring address to his division, twenty-five hundred men of which volunteered to follow wheresoever he saw fit to lead them. A tender of their services was made to the President, through Governor Blount, on the twenty-fifth of June, which was accepted on the eleventh of July. No immediate duty being required of the patriotic volunteers belonging to his division, General Jackson became impatient to participate in the struggle, and solicited the appointment of brigadier general in the regular army, which was conferred on General Winchester. Could President Madison have foreseen the sad catastrophe that occurred on the banks of the Raisin, in the following January; or had he possessed any correct idea of the military qualifications of General Jackson, we may well suppose that the latter would have been his choice.

[Sidenote: EXPEDITION TO NATCHEZ.]

An opportunity, however, was soon presented to Jackson, for taking the field. On the first of November, Governor Blount issued an order, in conformity with a requisition from the War Department, directing him to organize and equip fifteen hundred infantry and riflemen, with whom he was instructed to descend the river to New Orleans, and reïnforce General Wilkinson, then commanding that department. The necessary proclamation was issued, and, on the tenth of December, upwards of two thousand men rendezvoused at Nashville, many of whom had come miles upon miles, through cold, and sleet, and snow, undaunted by the rigors of the climate, and intent only on obeying the call of their country. On the thirteenth instant, the organization of the command, which consisted of one regiment of cavalry, not embraced in the requisition, but enrolled with the consent of Governor Blount, under Colonel Coffee, and two regiments of infantry, under Colonels Hall and T. H. Benton, was fully completed.

Numerous difficulties were yet to be encountered before the troops could be put in motion. Arms had been sparingly furnished by the government, and funds for the payment of the men had not been provided. Discontents naturally arose, and a mutiny was threatened. The firmness and determination of General Jackson prevented any outbreak, and his energy and perseverance ultimately overcame every obstacle. On the thirty-first of December, Colonel Coffee commenced his march with the mounted men, six hundred and seventy strong, by the overland route, to Natchez. On the seventh and eighth of January, 1813, General Jackson embarked on the Cumberland, in flat boats, with the two infantry regiments, numbering about fourteen hundred. Descending the rivers slowly,--his progress being constantly impeded by large masses of floating ice,--he reached Natchez on the fifteenth of February, near which he found the cavalry under Colonel Coffee.

At this point, General Jackson was met by a request from General Wilkinson, whose headquarters were at New Orleans, to halt his command, and report to him his force and instructions. Wilkinson held the rank of brigadier general in the regular army, with the brevet of major general; and it is not unlikely, that he suspected it was the intention of the government, that Jackson should supersede him. His request, doubtless, was prompted by this apprehension. As there was no indication of an attack on New Orleans, Jackson cheerfully complied with it. Natchez was a much more salubrious position for his troops, and having disembarked them, he marched to Washington, a few miles distant, where a cantonment had been previously established by a corps of regulars. The troops were placed in comfortable quarters, and a strong guard was detailed to protect the boats at Natchez.

[Sidenote: RETURN HOME.]

Camp regulations were now adopted, and strict orders issued by the commanding general, to proceed with the discipline and instruction of the troops. Becoming impatient for active duty, he wrote to the Secretary of War on the first of March, suggesting the employment of his force on the northern frontier, if there was no prospect of invasion in the south, or if Congress did not authorize the taking possession of Florida. This suggestion was repeated in a second letter written on the seventh of March. Before these letters reached Washington, an order had been issued from the War Department, directing him, on the receipt thereof, to consider his force dismissed from the service, and to take measures for the delivery of all articles of public property in his possession, to General Wilkinson. This unfeeling mandate concluded with a cold tender of thanks to himself and the corps under his command.

Jackson was fairly astounded at the blow. His whole command, officers and men, joined in denouncing, in unmeasured terms, the Secretary of War, General Armstrong, by whom the order was issued. He was still more indignant, when he discovered the probable key to the movement, in a letter from General Wilkinson, who suggested his encouraging the regular recruiting service from the troops he commanded, “in an appropriate general order.” Jackson did no such thing;--but, when a recruiting officer made his appearance, informed him that if he attempted to seduce a single volunteer from the corps, he would drum him out of the camp.

The patriotic volunteers who had accompanied General Jackson to Natchez were mostly young men--the flower of West Tennessee--the sons and brothers of his dearest friends and neighbors. The order he had received, required him to abandon these men, who looked up to him as a parent, in a strange land, five hundred miles from their homes; to deprive them of their arms, their tents and provisions; and to leave the sick uncared for, and unattended. This he could not, and did not do. He immediately wrote to the Secretary of War, denouncing his order, in no very honied words, and to the President, complaining of its barbarity, and giving his reasons for partially disregarding it. The necessary orders were then given to provide wagons and supplies; the men were directed to retain their arms; he borrowed five thousand dollars of a merchant in Natchez, on his own responsibility, to make up deficiencies; and, as soon as everything could be got in readiness, set out on his return march with his whole command,--declaring that not a single man should be left behind, “who had any life in him.”

Two hundred miles of the route lay through the Choctaw and Chickasaw country, and the only essential service rendered by the expedition was this homeward march, which overawed the Indians, and deterred them from joining the hostile Creeks and Cherokees.--Jackson paid every attention to the comfort of his soldiers, up to the last moment, strictly fulfilling his solemn pledge not to abandon one of them. Frequently he gave up his own horse to the sick, or exhausted soldier, and trudged along on foot, cheering all by his example, and ever ready with a kind word, to encourage those who faltered.

[Sidenote: CESSION OF LOUISIANA.]

Deeply chagrined though he was, at the result of the expedition to Natchez, General Jackson was still anxious to take part in the active scenes of the war. The disasters on the northern frontier in 1812, and the failure of the projected winter campaign under Harrison, in consequence of the incautious advance of General Winchester to Frenchtown, had produced a deep impression on his mind. His proud spirit smarted under the discredit of defeat; and, on the eighth of April, when on his way home, he wrote to the Secretary of War, informing him that he should be glad to execute any orders of the government in Canada, with his detachment, which could be augmented, if necessary. “I have a few standards,” said he, “wearing the American eagle, that I should be happy to place upon the ramparts of Malden.”

About the middle of May, the Tennessee volunteers reached home and were discharged. The Secretary of War informed General Jackson that the order to dismiss his force was designed to reach him at Fort Massac, near the mouth of the Cumberland; it being supposed that he had not yet moved down the river. Though this explanation appeared inconsistent with the orders at the same time issued to General Wilkinson, its sincerity was not questioned by General Jackson. It was sufficient for him that his conduct was sanctioned by the government, and that he was relieved from the pecuniary responsibilities he had incurred.

Within a few months after his return from Natchez, General Jackson was again called from his retirement, to lead a large body of troops into the Indian country on the southern borders of Tennessee.

By the treaty of San Ildefonso, concluded on the first day of October, 1800, Louisiana was ceded by the Spanish government to the French republic. The territorial rights thereby acquired, were transferred to the United States, by a treaty concluded at Paris, on the thirtieth of April, 1803. Spain was highly incensed at the assignment of the territory, and threw every possible obstacle in the way of its occupation by the authorities of the United States. For a long time she refused absolutely, to yield up a large tract of country lying between the Perdido and Mississippi rivers, upon the pretence that it belonged to Florida.

During the war on the European continent, a community of feeling and interest was established between Spain and England; and it was only by the assistance and coöperation of British fleets and armies, that Ferdinand VII was able finally to preserve his throne. When hostilities commenced between the United States and Great Britain,--though solemnly bound by the provisions of a treaty concluded with the former, in 1795, to restrain the Indians on the frontiers of Florida, by force, from attacking American citizens,--Spain, through her officers, permitted British agents sent from Canada, to establish themselves at the posts belonging to, or occupied by her, and countenanced, or connived at, their efforts to stir up the savages to begin an exterminating warfare.

[Sidenote: THE SOUTHERN INDIANS.]

The principal Indian nations in the southern part of the Union were the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws. The two last mentioned tribes, together about thirty-five thousand strong, resided on the Yazoo, Pearl, and Pascagoula rivers, in the Territory of Mississippi; and after the occupation of Louisiana, and the march of General Jackson through their country, with his large army, on his return from Natchez, they could not be induced to take up arms against the Americans. The Cherokees, also, who occupied the mountainous country, where the two Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama,--the last a part of Mississippi Territory at the time of which I am speaking,--adjoin, or approach each other, with the exception of a very small portion of the younger members of the tribe, remained on friendly terms with their white neighbors. The Creeks, numbering near twenty-five thousand, inhabited the fertile and beautiful Aulochewan country; their settlements extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the Tennessee river, and from the Chatahoochee to the Tombigbee, in the centre of which was the famous Hickory Ground, a rich tract of land lying in the forks of the Coosa and Tallapoosa, which its aboriginal occupants, from time immemorial, held peculiarly sacred. Besides these tribes, there was the Seminole band, an off-shoot of the Creeks, who had their homes in the swamps and hummocks on the borders of Georgia and Florida.

The Creeks and Seminoles, from their situation, in the vicinity of St. Augustine, St. Marks, Pensacola, and Fort Condé, were rendered particularly liable to be influenced by the British agents at those posts. In the winter of 1811–12, Tecumseh visited the Creeks, and exhorted them earnestly to dig up the hatchet. After his departure, prophets arose among them, who practiced the same rites and incantations with the brother of the Shawano Chief, and, like him, professed to have received important revelations from the Great Spirit.[17] The older and wiser warriors were exceedingly averse to war, but, through the influence and machinations of British and Spanish officers who attended their councils, they were overruled by the younger and more ambitious spirits of the tribe.

Soon after war was declared, the Seminoles commenced their depredations; but in the following winter, a body of Georgia militia, with two hundred volunteers from East Tennessee, followed them into Florida, burned several of their towns, and returned home again in the spring of 1813. Matters were not yet ripe for a general outbreak, although it was confidently anticipated, as English vessels were known to be sent from the Bahamas to Florida, laden with arms, clothing, and ammunition, for the hostile Indians. In January, 1813, President Madison requested authority from Congress, to take possession of the territory claimed by Spain, lying west of the Perdido. After some delay, an act was passed, and on the fifteenth of April, General Wilkinson appeared before Fort Condé, near Mobile, and demanded its surrender. The Spanish commandant made no resistance, and the American standard was for the first time planted in the disputed territory. Other prominent points in the vicinity of Mobile were also occupied by the American troops.

Occasional outrages were committed during the summer of 1813, and the white settlers residing in the neighborhood of the Creeks and Seminoles lived in a state of constant alarm and agitation. On the fifteenth of August, Governor Blount, of Tennessee, was directed to detail fifteen hundred of the militia of that state, and hold them in readiness for immediate service. These troops were not called out, however; and as time wore on without the occurrence of any serious calamity, the border inhabitants began to fancy themselves almost secure from attack. They were soon aroused from their lethargy, by the glare of burning villages, and the rattling war-cry of the Indian warrior.

[Sidenote: WAR WITH THE CREEKS.]

On the thirtieth day of August, 1813, Fort Mims, about forty miles from Mobile, on the left bank of the Alabama river, and a short distance above its junction with the Tombigbee, was surprised by a party of Creeks, seven hundred strong, under their chief, Weatherford; the garrison, consisting of one hundred and fifty of the 1st Mississippi volunteers, under Major Beasely, and twenty white families who had taken refuge in the fort, with their negroes, in all about three hundred and fifty persons, were cruelly massacred. But seventeen of the whites made their escape. The perpetration of this horrid tragedy excited the utmost consternation at the forts and stations on the Tombigbee, of which there were nearly twenty within a distance of seventy miles above Fort Stoddart. Most of the forts were abandoned, and the affrighted fugitives fled down the river to Mobile, which was itself extremely insecure.

General Claiborne, and Governor Holmes of the Mississippi Territory, immediately called out a small militia force,--all that it was in their power to bring into the field,--for the protection of the Mobile country. In Tennessee, the alarm was universal, and the whole population were aroused. But little aid could be expected from the General Government, all whose means and energies were employed in the prosecution of the northern campaign, and the defence of the Atlantic coast from the ravages of the more civilized, but not less brutal enemy. A public meeting of the citizens of Nashville was held on the eighteenth of September, at which resolutions were passed, urgently recommending the adoption, by the State Legislature, of prompt measures for the invasion of the Creek country. In accordance therewith, an act was passed on the twenty-fifth instant, authorizing the governor to call out thirty-five hundred men, in addition to the fifteen hundred already required by the General Government, who were to be immediately put in service, and pledging the faith of the state to pay them, if Congress should refuse. A resolution was also adopted on the twenty-seventh instant, directing the governor to tender the services of the Tennessee troops to the United States.

The public sentiment, with one accord, fixed upon Andrew Jackson as the leader of this force. He was still confined to his room, on account of the arm fractured in the affray with Colonel Benton, which has been mentioned; but when his country called him to the field, he was ready to obey her behest. On the twenty-fourth of September, Governor Blount directed him to call out, without delay, two thousand men of his division, to rendezvous at Fayetteville,--and to order Colonel Coffee into immediate service, with five hundred cavalry previously raised. The necessary instructions were issued, on the same day, to Colonel Coffee, who was further instructed, to incorporate with his regiment any companies of volunteer riflemen that might present themselves. He also ordered into service the volunteers who had accompanied him to Natchez, together with one thousand militia from his division.

On the twenty-fifth of September, General Jackson directed a part of the cavalry to repair to Huntsville, by forced marches. On the twenty-sixth, Colonel Coffee was ordered to move upon the same point and wait further orders, and on the twenty-eighth, he was instructed to proceed to Fort St. Stephen’s which was said to be threatened by the enemy. The state of his health did not permit the general to appear at Fayetteville on the fourth of October, the day appointed for the rendezvous; but he was represented on that occasion, by his aid, Major Reid, through whom he delivered to the assembled troops a most eloquent and spirited address. On the seventh instant he reached the place of rendezvous, with his arm in a sling, where he found a dispatch from Colonel Coffee, who had marched a short distance beyond Huntsville, with near thirteen hundred men, informing him that the Creeks had divided their forces,--one portion moving towards the Georgia line, and the other advancing upon the frontiers of Tennessee,--and that, in consequence of this, he had not proceeded to Fort St. Stephen’s.

[Sidenote: TROOPS IN THE FIELD.]

It had been generally supposed that the next blow would be struck at Mobile--more particularly, because of the facilities which would have been afforded to the Indians, by its possession, of communicating with their British allies; but the report of Colonel Coffee allayed all the fears that had been entertained in regard to the safety of that post. Relieved on this point, General Jackson commenced his preparations for taking the field. Delay, however brief, was hardly admissible, as he desired to terminate the campaign by a few bold and decisive movements, but it was necessary, in order to furnish the volunteers and militia, who had rendezvoused at Fayetteville, with the requisite arms and supplies.

The hostile Creeks, or Red Sticks, numbered only about four thousand warriors, and they were now surrounded by an American force large enough, had it been properly provided, and directed by a single commander, like General Jackson, to have driven them into the Gulf of Mexico, or exterminated them in a very few weeks. On the west of their settlements, there were six hundred Mississippi volunteers, under General Claiborne; the 3rd regiment of regular infantry, six hundred strong, under Colonel Russell; and two hundred militia, at Fort St. Stephen’s. On the north, were the Tennessee volunteers and militia, five thousand in number,--twenty-five hundred from West Tennessee, with General Jackson in person, and twenty-five hundred from East Tennessee, under Generals Cocke and White,--all under the orders of General Jackson; and in addition to these, there was a force of two hundred Mississippi volunteers, near Huntsville, under Colonel Perkins. On the east were twenty-five hundred Georgia militia, commanded by General Floyd. Besides the troops mentioned, there was a body of Cherokees and friendly Creeks, sometimes with one party and sometimes with another, and varying, at different times, from one or two, to seven or eight hundred.

[Sidenote: DESIGNS OF THE BRITISH.]

Had they not been grossly deceived and deluded by their prophets, the Creeks could never have hoped to accomplish anything against this formidable array. Indeed, they seem to have been strangely infatuated throughout; for, instead of concentrating their whole force in an attack on Mobile, or the Mississippi or Georgia troops, neither of whom were yet fully prepared for the field, they advanced with their main body, weakened by a detachment sent towards the frontiers of Georgia, against the column under General Jackson, who was ready to meet them at any odds, and determined to defeat, when he did meet them. It is not probable that the British agents who instigated the Creeks to hostilities, anticipated that the latter would achieve any certain success. They only supposed that the savages would hold the Americans at bay, until a British army could be brought to succor them. The resistless energy and perseverance of General Jackson, defeated any such project. Long before England was able to dispatch a considerable force to the Gulf, he had fallen upon the Creeks like a thunderbolt, scattered their warriors, who escaped the deadly aim of his rifles, like chaff before the wind, spread terror and devastation through their settlements, and forced them, as suppliants, humbly to beg for peace.

About one o’clock in the morning of the eleventh of October, an express from Colonel Coffee,--who had crossed the Tennessee river south of Huntsville, at Ditto’s Landing, and posted his command on a high bluff on the opposite shore,--arrived at Fayetteville, with the information that the Red Sticks were rapidly approaching his position. Jackson instantly replied, that he would be on the march to reïnforce him, in two hours. It had been sometime before understood, between General Jackson and General Cocke, that the latter would send supplies down the river, from East Tennessee, where provisions were abundant, to meet the other column at Ditto’s Landing. Hoping, rather than believing, that he would be supplied with provisions, in sufficient quantities, if he advanced into the enemy’s country, Jackson ordered all his disposable force under arms, and left Fayetteville early in the morning of the eleventh.

Rumors of Indian massacres and outrages reached the command at every stage of their progress. They scarcely halted during the day, and at eight o’clock in the evening were in Huntsville, thirty-two miles distant. Here General Jackson ascertained that the report in regard to the advance of the Creeks was not well founded; and he therefore concluded to rest his men till the following morning, when he resumed his march, and in the evening effected a junction with the troops under Colonel Coffee.

From the positive assurances contained in letters received from Generals Cocke and White,--the latter of whom had concentrated about eight hundred and fifty men, at Highwassee Garrison, in the Cherokee country, on the fourth of October,--General Jackson was led to believe that he should find ample stores of provisions when he reached the Tennessee river. On the thirteenth of October, he dispatched Colonel Coffee, with six hundred men picked from his regiment, against Blackwarriors’ Town, on the Blackwarrior river, about one hundred miles south of Ditto’s Landing. Day after day passed by, and still the supplies did not arrive. The time was profitably spent, under the circumstances, in drilling the troops, but the delay was, nevertheless, intolerable. Repeated messages were received from Chenubby, Pathkiller, and other friendly chiefs, informing him that they and their families were liable to be cut off, at any moment, by the Red Sticks, who were collecting in force near the Ten Islands, on the Coosa River, and urging him to hasten to their assistance. He at length determined that he would not longer remain inactive.

[Sidenote: ADVANCE TO THOMPSON’S CREEK.]

As his contemplated route to the Coosa lay, for some distance, up the Tennessee river, he resolved to advance, hoping to meet the stores which he supposed were descending the stream; and so confident was he upon this point, that he sent forward expresses to stop them at Thompson’s Creek. On the nineteenth of October, he commenced his march for that point, with scarcely a week’s rations on hand, having previously dismissed the former contractors for his army and supplied their places with others.

He was obliged to cut a road for the passage of his wagon train through dense forests, and over almost impassable mountains; but he only smiled at obstacles when he possessed the means to overcome them. On the twenty-second instant, he arrived at Thompson’s Creek, but it was only to be again disappointed. No supplies were to be found, and nothing could be heard of any. Other generals would have given up in despair; but it was not in his nature to falter. Though environed by difficulties, which might well have appalled a braver spirit, he formed the stern resolution to breast them nobly and manfully. To retreat now, would be to abandon the friendly Creeks, of whose danger he was again reminded, by a message from Pathkiller, at Turkey Town, to their fate,--and to leave the southern frontiers of Tennessee exposed to the ruthless ravages of the savage enemy. Though the hideous monster, Famine, stared him in the face at every step, he resolved to advance to the Ten Islands, and then sweep down through the country where the hostiles, or Red Sticks, as they were called, in allusion to the emblems which they had adopted, were concentrating, to the forks of the Coosa and Tallapoosa.

He addressed earnest and importunate letters to the governors of Tennessee and Georgia, to Colonels Meigs and McKee, the Cherokee and Choctaw agents, to General Flourney, the commander of the seventh military district, to the friendly chiefs, and several private citizens of wealth and influence, urging them to leave no means untried to throw forward the necessary supplies for his army, and pledging himself, if properly furnished in this respect, to terminate the war in a very few weeks. While at Thompson’s Creek, he received a letter from General White, who had increased his force at Highwassee to about thirteen hundred men, besides one or two hundred friendly Cherokees, informing him that no flour could be spared at that post. He immediately dispatched expresses to Generals Cocke and White, apprising them of the condition of his troops in regard to provisions, and requiring them to join him as soon as possible in the Creek country.

On the twenty-fourth of October, Colonel Coffee returned from his expedition, having destroyed Blackwarriors’ Town, and captured three hundred bushels of corn, though he had not seen an Indian. The provisions of his men were so nearly exhausted, that, during the last four days of their excursion, they were obliged to subsist on parched corn. In the evening of the twenty-fourth, the preparations of General Jackson for a forward movement were completed; a dépôt was established at Thompson’s Creek, called Fort Deposit, and means provided for forwarding such supplies as might arrive; and, on the morning of the twenty-fifth, he put his army in motion for the interior, marching, as was his invariable custom, in three columns, so arranged that they could be instantly formed in order of battle, if attacked in front or in rear, or on either flank.

In two days General Jackson reached Wills’ Creek, a tributary of the Coosa, where he encamped till the morning of the twenty-ninth, to collect corn from the neighboring Indians,--his army being entirely out of bread. On the twenty-eighth instant, Lieutenant Colonel Dyer was detached with two hundred cavalry, against the village of Littefutchee, which he attacked the following night; the village was burned; twenty-nine prisoners were taken; and considerable corn, and a number of beeves, were collected from the vicinity. While at Wills’ Creek, Jackson was again obliged to remove his contractors, and employ others. On the thirtieth instant, he reörganized his troops. General Hall was placed in command of the first brigade, consisting of the first and second regiments of volunteer infantry, under Colonels Bradley and Pillow; and General Roberts in command of the second brigade, consisting of the first and second militia regiments, under Colonels Wynne and M’Crory. General Coffee, promoted from colonel, was placed in command of the cavalry brigade, which consisted of the volunteer regiment, Colonel Alcorn, and the mounted rifles, Colonel Cannon.

[Sidenote: BATTLE OF TALLUSCHATCHEE.]

The march was then resumed for the Ten Islands. While General Jackson was cutting his way over the Coosa mountain, General Coffee was ordered to cross the river, at the fish-dams, with one thousand men of his brigade, to scour the country in the direction of the Ten Islands, and attack the Indian town of Talluschatchee, about thirteen miles distant, in an easterly direction, where a large force of the enemy had collected. The orders issued to General Coffee were gallantly executed. On the morning of the third of November he approached the town; the savages in vain attempted to oppose his march; and they were driven rapidly back upon their buildings, in and about which a fierce and bloody contest took place, that terminated in their complete rout and overthrow. Both men and women fought with the utmost desperation. One hundred and eighty-six of the enemy, including one of their prophets, and a number of women and children, were found dead on the field of battle; and there were eighty-four taken prisoners, all of whom were women and children. General Coffee had five men killed and fourteen wounded. Having destroyed the town and buried his dead, he rejoined the main army, at the Ten Islands, in the evening of the same day, with his wounded and prisoners.

[Sidenote: KINDNESS TO THE ORPHAN.]

Harassed by constant care and anxiety,--exposed, at every turn, to vexatious delays and hindrances, that fretted and annoyed him,--General Jackson never lost that kindness and gentleness of spirit, which bloomed, bright and pure, amid the intenser passions that burned and blazed around it. Among the prisoners taken at Talluschatchee, was an infant boy found clinging to the breast of his dead mother. He was brought to camp with the others, and General Jackson endeavored to hire some of the captive women to take care of him. They refused, saying, “All his relations are dead; kill him too!”--Jackson then caused him to be fed with sweetened water, and afterwards sent him to Huntsville, where he was nursed at his expense. After the close of the campaign, he took the little orphan, who was named Lincoyer, home with him to the Hermitage, where he was reared and educated with parental care and kindness. At a proper age, he was apprenticed to a saddler in Nashville; but he never lost his Indian tastes. His health began to fail before he reached the age of manhood, and he was removed to the Hermitage. He sunk rapidly into a consumption, and soon died, sincerely mourned and lamented by the general and his wife, who had watched over his sick bed with untiring assiduity.

At the Ten Islands, General Jackson established a post, called Fort Strother, on the right bank of the Coosa, opposite the mouth of Talluschatchee creek. The prisoners brought in by General Coffee were forthwith sent to Huntsville. No supplies had yet arrived; the army could not be furnished with regular rations; and it was hardly known, one day, what they were to subsist on the next. Once more the commanding general appealed to the contractors, by every consideration of humanity and patriotism, to forward the provisions which could alone save his troops from starvation. He likewise again wrote to General White, who had arrived at Turkey Town, twenty-five miles above Fort Strother, to join him immediately. His dispatch was written on the seventh of November, and, late in the evening, before it was closed, a runner came in from Lashly’s fort, at Talladega, about thirty miles south of Fort Strother, and a short distance east of the Coosa, with the intelligence that a large body of Red Sticks had encamped near that place, which was occupied by friendly Indians, and were preparing to destroy it and the inmates. General Jackson could not hesitate to grant the desired succor. He determined to march forthwith; the urgent circumstances which induced him to advance, were mentioned in the dispatch to General White; and the latter was entreated to lose no time in reaching Fort Strother, to protect his dépôt and cover his rear.

Marching orders were issued in a few moments after the arrival of the runner, and at midnight General Jackson was on the march for Talladega, with his whole disposable force, consisting of twelve hundred infantry, and eight hundred cavalry and mounted rifles. His sick, wounded, and baggage, were left at Fort Strother. Crossing the Coosa in the night, he pressed forward with such celerity--officers and men vieing with each other in zeal--that, on the evening of the eighth instant, he encamped within six miles of the fort at Talladega, which was occupied by one hundred and sixty friendly warriors, with their women and children. About midnight the chief Chenubby arrived from Turkey Town, with a letter from General White, informing General Jackson that he had received an order from his division commander, General Cocke, to join him at Chattooga, higher up the Coosa, and that he could not, therefore, advance to Fort Strother.

[Sidenote: BATTLE OF TALLADEGA.]

Jackson’s cup of disappointment was almost full. Neither General Cocke, nor General White, wanted in patriotism; but they seem, more particularly the former, to have been impressed with the belief, that by remaining aloof from General Jackson, they would secure a larger share of the honors of the campaign. It seems almost painful to contemplate the struggles of the proud and ambitious spirit constantly thwarted by their unwise movements. Had they joined him at once, the war would have been brought to a close in a few weeks; but they preferred to linger behind, in safety and security, eating up the provisions better deserved by those who were enduring the severest fatigues and privations; and when they recovered from their inactivity, and advanced to strike a blow, it proved to be the only unfortunate one of the whole campaign.

The dispatch from General White made no change, however, in the determination of General Jackson. He resolved to dispose of the enemy in his front, and then fall back, with all possible speed, to Fort Strother, before the enemy would have time to profit by its defenceless condition. The prospect before his troops was disheartening in the extreme; if they conquered, there would be no food to refresh or reïnvigorate them; yet his example inspired them with confidence, and they obeyed his commands without hesitation or reluctance.

Long before daylight on the morning of the ninth of November, the army was again in motion. Silently threading their way through the luxuriant forests, winding over the hills, and crossing the rich intervals, that separated them from the enemy, they approached their position. Within a mile, they were halted, and formed in order of battle. The infantry brigades were placed in the centre,--General Hall’s on the right, and General Roberts’ on the left. They were flanked, on the right, by Colonel Alcorn’s volunteer cavalry, and, on the left, by the mounted rifles of Colonel Cannon. An advanced corps of riflemen, spies, and artillery, was formed under Colonel Carroll, the inspector general, and a strong reserve of two hundred and fifty mounted men, under Lieutenant Colonel Dyer.

At eight o’clock the attack was ordered; and the whole column moved rapidly forward, all full of animation and enthusiasm. Colonel Carroll preceded the main body, with the advance, having received orders to rouse the enemy from the thicket on the banks of a small rivulet, in which they had concealed themselves, and then to retire towards the centre. The sharp quick report of his rifles, and the hideous yells and screams, soon apprised the remainder of the column that the savages had been started from their cover. Meantime, the infantry regiments, which had previously advanced by heads of companies, had displayed, in accordance with the orders of General Jackson, and the cavalry were extending themselves, to the right and left, so as to encircle the enemy. The orders issued by the commanding general required the cavalry to keep up their connection with the flanks of the infantry. This was neglected on the right, and the plan of attack, which was most skilfully formed, was partially defeated by this untoward circumstance. Colonel Bradley, the officer commanding the infantry regiment on the right, also halted his men on a rising ground, before he came in contact with the enemy, and the gap was thereby considerably widened.

[Sidenote: DEFEAT OF THE ENEMY.]

When the fronts of the cavalry columns met on the further side of the enemy, they faced inwardly, and a general rush was made towards the centre. The Indians did not appear inclined to fly, at first, but made a bold onset upon the right wing of General Roberts’ brigade. Three of the companies, after delivering their fire, began to stagger, and finally fell back in the rear. Colonel Bradley was then ordered to advance with his regiment, and fill up the vacancy. This he declined doing; and General Jackson, much against his will, as he designed the reserve to pursue the enemy if they attempted to escape, was forced to direct Lieutenant Colonel Dyer to dismount his men, and engage them. Observing this movement, the retiring militia rallied and did good service.

The action was not of long continuance. The savages could not withstand the destructive fire poured in upon them from every side, and in fifteen minutes they commenced flying hither and thither, within the circle, seeking some avenue of escape. Whichsoever way they turned, they encountered the rifle and the bayonet. At length, they discovered the opening between Colonel Alcorn’s regiment of cavalry, on the right, and the volunteers of Colonel Bradley. Through this numbers of them dashed, hotly pursed by both cavalry and infantry, who followed them for nearly three miles, strewing the ground throughout the whole distance with their dead bodies. The Indian force numbered one thousand and eighty warriors, of whom two hundred and ninety-nine were found killed on the field of battle, and many more must have perished in the woods. The Americans lost but fifteen killed, and eighty-five wounded, some of the latter mortally.

The occupants of the fort thus timely relieved, crowded around General Jackson and his brave troops, and poured forth their thanks in eloquent and impressive terms. There were only one hundred and sixty warriors, with their women and children, and the arrival of the Tennesseans was most opportune, as the Red Sticks were to have assaulted the fort in a few hours. They had been entirely cut off from their supply of water, and had suffered considerably for want of it. Their stock of provisions was also limited; but on discovering the condition of Jackson’s troops, who had left Fort Strother with but little over one day’s rations, they cheerfully furnished them all they had to spare, which scarcely amounted to a single meal.

General Jackson complimented his troops, in the highest terms, for their gallantry in this action. All the officers, with the exception of Colonel Bradley, who was placed under arrest, but afterwards released, were mentioned in his dispatches in terms of marked approbation.

[Sidenote: DESTITUTION OF THE TROOPS.]

An instant retreat to Fort Strother was now necessary. The horses were suffering for the want of forage, and the men were half-famished, when they turned their backs on the field of victory, and commenced their retrograde march. Jackson was with the van of the army, and on the way discovered a quantity of acorns lying on the ground. Dismounting from his horse, he threw the bridle over his arm, and, having gathered a few of the nuts, sat down on the roots of a tree to eat them. He was thus engaged in satisfying his hunger, when a soldier approached him, and demanded something to eat. “I never turn away the hungry,” said the general, “while I have anything to give them.” He then offered the soldier a few acorns, adding, “I will most cheerfully divide with you such food as I have.” Mortified and surprised, the man shrunk back among his companions, who thereafter repressed every disposition to murmur or complain.

The army reached Fort Strother on the evening of the eleventh of November, but it was only to be once more disappointed. No provisions, except the limited quantities forwarded by the contractors, had yet arrived; and the private stores of the general had been almost exhausted, in order to supply the wants of the sick and wounded. Still he assumed a cheerful and confident tone, though sad enough at heart, and resorting to the slaughter-pens, provided himself with tripes, with which he made what he termed a comfortable repast. His example was imitated by the soldiers, who seemed inclined willingly to endure the hardships of the campaign.

But matters could not long continue in this situation. The battles of Talluschatchee and Talladega had satisfied, to a considerable degree, the desire for adventure which had previously animated the troops in the midst of the most embarrassing difficulties, and they soon began to pine for the comforts of home. Starvation was far more terrible to them than “an army with banners.” They were brave,--this could not be doubted,--and they would have gladly followed their general into the very heart of the Creek country, if they could only have been assured that a reasonable supply of food would be provided; of the two enemies whom they met in the wilderness, they feared the savage least; and was it not asking too much that they should encounter both?

Disaffection gradually gained ground, and, in a few days, the whole army was on the verge of mutiny. The militia regiments were the first to make known their determination to leave the camp, and return to Tennessee. Apprised of their intention, General Jackson ordered the volunteer brigade under arms, and when the militia attempted to move off, the former were directed to fire upon them unless they returned to their duty. This had the desired effect. The overawed militia retired to their tents, but, on the following morning, they were themselves paraded, in a similar manner, to prevent the volunteers from deserting their colors. This arraying of one species of force against another was a bold and happy conception of Jackson’s; but it would not bear repetition. No one could be better aware than himself, that the men had reasonable cause for complaint, even though he insisted on a rigid compliance with his orders to remain at Fort Strother. The horses were suffering so much, however, for the want of forage, that the mounted men received permission to go back to Huntsville, upon their pledge to return promptly when required to do so.

[Sidenote: SUPPRESSION OF THE MUTINY.]

Having been positively assured by the new contractor, Colonel Pope, in reply to his earnest and pathetic appeals, that supplies would soon reach his camp, General Jackson made a most eloquent and animated harangue to his troops on the fourteenth of November, exhorting them, by every consideration and argument which should influence brave and patriotic citizens, not to abandon the service, and leave the frontier settlements exposed to the desolating incursions of the Indians. He also promised them, that if a supply of provisions did not arrive within two days, he would himself lead them back where there was plenty. The militia consented to remain; but the volunteer regiments, forgetful of the heavy debt of gratitude which they owed to their commander, for his refusal to desert them the previous winter, at Natchez, when they had been abandoned by their government, determined to march forthwith to the settlements. Discovering that it was useless longer to attempt compulsory measures, General Jackson issued the necessary orders to General Hall, to conduct his brigade to Fort Deposit. Before the march was commenced, the second regiment wisely reconsidered their determination, and concluded to stay with the general; whereupon the first regiment moved off alone.

The specified time elapsed, and still no provisions had arrived. On the sixteenth, General Jackson commenced his preparations for the abandonment of Fort Strother; but, on reflecting how much this movement would reïnspirit the savages, he declared that he would not leave the post, if only two men would remain with him. Captain Gordon, of the spies, instantly volunteered to be one of his companions, and through his exertions, and those of some of the members of the general staff, one hundred and nine men were found who agreed to stay.

Feeling confident, however, that supplies were close at hand, General Jackson marched with the militia, apprising them, in advance, that they would be ordered back if his expectations should be realized. Within ten or twelve miles of the fort, they met one hundred and fifty beeves. The column at once halted; the cattle were knocked down, and eagerly cooked and eaten by the half-starved troops. But when the order to return was issued, none obeyed it. One company, indeed, had resumed the march, before the general discovered the mutinous disposition which prevailed among the troops. He immediately dashed ahead of the men who were moving off, and with General Coffee, a part of the staff, and a few soldiers, formed a line across the road, and declared that he would fire on them if they endeavored to pass. Well knowing that he was not the man to forfeit his word, they fell back to the main body, who were soon discovered to be likewise infected with the spirit of mutiny. Arguments and entreaties proved of no avail,--the troops all formed, and were on the point of continuing their march to Fort Deposit. As a last resort, the general snatched a musket, threw it across the neck of his horse, and placing himself in front of the column, declared that he would shoot down the first man who moved a single step in advance.

The piece which General Jackson had seized was too much out of order to be fired, and his arm was so weak that he could not aim it with any precision; but the men before him knew nothing of this, or, if they did, thought not of it. They only saw his flashing eye, and his determined look. General Coffee and some of the staff took their places in silence beside him. Two faithful companies also formed in his rear. All were ready to fire when he gave the signal. For several moments not a word was uttered. At length the power of numbers quailed before the iron will, the moral greatness of that one man. The mutineers signified their willingness to return, and in a short time they were retracing their steps to Fort Strother.

[Sidenote: DESTRUCTION OF THE HILLABEE TOWNS.]

While General Jackson was engaged in quelling the disturbances in his camp, the East Tennesseans, under General White, were proceeding against the Hillabee towns, the warriors from which had been present at the battle of Talladega. Intimidated by the result of this action, they had applied to General Jackson, on the thirteenth of November, for terms of peace. On the seventeenth he replied, making known to them the conditions upon which their request would be granted. On the same night, General White, who had been detached for this service by General Cocke, on the eleventh of November, with all his cavalry and mounted infantry, approached the principal Hillabee village, having previously destroyed Little Oakfuskie, Genalga, and Netta Chaptoa. At daylight the town was surprised, sixty warriors were killed, and two hundred and fifty taken prisoners, without the loss of a drop of blood on the part of General White’s command.

This unfortunate movement--unfortunate, inasmuch as the blow fell with crushing weight upon a people already subdued, and anxious to make peace on any terms--confirmed General Cocke in the opinion which he had previously formed and communicated to General Jackson on the fourteenth of November, that it was far better to unite his forces with those of the latter, and act in concert with him, than, by remaining separate, to paralyze his efforts, and defeat his plans. Thereafter he made no attempt to operate independently of General Jackson, and on the twelfth of December joined him at Fort Strother, with fourteen hundred and fifty men.